Pocket guard and alarm.



J T. GOWLBS. POCKET GUARD AND ALARM. APPLIOATIQN FILED my 5, 1 09.

COLUMBIA PLANDGRArn c0, WASHINGTON. L, c.

Patented Feb. 6, 1912.'

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. COWLES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

POCKET GUARD AND ALARM.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN T. CowLns, a citizenof the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPocket Guards and Alarms, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact specification.

This invention relates to a pocket guard and alarm. Its object is torender more difficult the picking of pockets, and to give an alarm whenthat act is attempted.

The invention consists substantially in the construction hereinafter setforth and shown in the drawings, and more particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Like letters refer to similar parts in the several figures in thedrawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the device applied to a pocketin a garment, the device being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is avertical section through the pocket and device on the line 00-21: ofFig. 1, and with the position of the alarm shown in dotted. lines. Fig.3 is a perspective view of the device.

This pocket guard and alarm is shown in the drawings applied to the hippocket of a pair of trousers, although it may be well utilized with anypocket containing a flap or cover. The principle of the device is thatit is arranged so that in order to get into the pocket, one side of thedevice must be lifted and the act of lifting that side moves anotherpart of the device into contact with the body, and thus gives the alarmto the person whose pocket it is attempted to pick. It is manifest thetwo portions of this device may be made in many different forms andshapes, but it is believed that the simplest and best form is thatindicated in the drawings, in which a straight piece of wire 0 isemployed as an axis, and another piece of wire is bent so as to have alower loop a and an upper loop 6, twisted to form an eye through whichthe straight wire 0 may be inserted and thus form an axis upon which thetwo loops may be turned and the parts may be retained in permanentrelation by bending the ends of the wire a backwardly upon themselves oneach side of the loop portions of the wire, as indicated at d andoutside of the eyes thereof, so that these bends produce a stop toprevent the parts being detached.

In the mode of application illustrated, to which the invention, however,is not to be Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application filed May 5, 1909.

Patented Feb. 6, 1912.

Serial No. 494,018.

/ limited, the lower loop a is inserted within the flap over the pocket,that is to say, between the lining and the goods of the flap, while theupper loop 72 is inserted between the lining and the goods of the bodyportion of the trousers above the pocket. In the drawing the flap isdesignated by the letter a and the pocket by the letter f, the sectionof the goods above the pocket by the letter 7L, and the lining thereforby the letter i. It is preferable to offset the upper loop I) just abovethe eye to allow for the thickness of the goods. It is evident with thisconstruction that the lower loop gives a certain stiffness or rigidityto the flap which makes it comparatively difficult to lift, and yetaccess cannot be obtained to the pocket without lifting this flap, sothat this loop acts as a guard to render more diflicult the picking ofthe pocket; and besides, when this flap is lifted, it carries with itthe lower loop of the device which turns on the axis 0 and throws inwardthe upper loop 6 into contact with the body and necessitates somepressure upon the body in order to fully gain access to the pocket,whereby an alarm will be given to the person whose pocket is attemptedto be picked. This is well illustrated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2,where the flap has been lifted, carrying with it the lower loop a andthrowing the upper loop 6 into contact with the body and thus giving thealarm.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A pocket guard and alarm comprising a wire bent into an upper andlower loop, the lower of which is secured to the inside of the flap orcover of the pocket and the upper of which extends above the pocketadjacent to the body, and a pivot or hinge of a length to extend acrossthe pocket and beyond the sides thereof upon which the two portions maybe turned, whereby the lifting of the flap projects the upper loop ofthe device against the body and gives the alarm.

2. A pocket guard and alarm comprising a wire bent to form a lowerportion and an upper portion and a hinge or axis member secured theretobetween said portions said hinged member being adapted to be secured toa garment adjacent to a pocket therein.

3. A pocket guard and alarm comprising a wire bent to form a lowerportion and an upper portion, and a hinge or axis member secured theretobetween said portions, said hinge member being adapted to be secured toa garment adjacent to and extending across the mouth of a pockettherein.

4. A pocket guard and alarm comprising a wire forming an axis andsecured to the inside of the flap or cover of a pocket, in combinationwith another wire twisted around said axis to form a bearing and havinga projecting lower loop and a projecting upper loop arranged to besecured to a garment, withthe lower portion inside of the flap or coverof the pocket and the upper portion in an approximately parallel planeabove said pocket.

5. A pocket guard and alarm comprising a comparatively straight wireforming an axis and having its two ends bent back upon themselves, incombination with another wire twisted around said axis just inside ofthe bent ends and projecting in the form of loops above and below suchaxis.

6. A pocket guard and alarm comprising an approximately straight wirehaving its two ends bent back upon itself, in combination with anotherwire twisted around the axis to form eyes on either side just inside ofthe bent ends of the axis and having projecting loops below and abovethe axis with the upper loop offset to an extent to accommodate thefabric of the garment to which it is to be attached.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, of May, A. D. 1909.

JOHN T. COWLES.

Witnesses:

C. H. SEEM, FRANK T. BROWN.

bopies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

on this 3rd day

